What we are learning about nurturing learning organisations

This month we are focusing on organisational learning. In this article, Wilma Wessels-Ziervogel reflects on her work as a learning facilitator/partner for nonprofit organisations:

Monitoring and evaluation (M&E) is often about reporting to funders,?proving our value, justifying expenditure, and showing our success! While this is important, learning has always been at the heart of Southern Hemisphere’s M&E or monitoring, evaluation and learning (MEL) practice.?I have worked with organisations for over 15 years providing learning facilitation, planning and evaluation services.?

Benefits of developing a learning culture?

I have been a learning partner for the Labour Research Service for a number of years, and have helped them to recognize their collective contribution to achieving social impact as they were able to:

• discover personal interests and better utilize staff skills;?
• integrate planning and collaborate better across projects;?
• practice more continuous reflection;?
• become more systematic about monitoring outcomes;?
• be intentional about communicating their work.??

So what have I learnt about nurturing learning organisations?

Learning needs head space.? We learn as we go, but we need dedicated time to think and learn collectively.? This encourages creative solutions.?

Learning needs to be holistic.? Learning organisations need learning individuals.? Reflection should be encouraged at different levels:? the individual, the team, the programme and the context. ? Learning spaces should help individuals to better connect themselves to their work.

Learning needs vulnerability! ? We have a wish list of how we want to influence the world, but many of us work in complex programs/contexts and can rarely predict the effect of our work.? And so, we cannot expect to always get things right. The insight that comes with failure is as important to embrace and share as the successes.? The focus should be on “failing forward”, rather than not failing.???

Nina Benjamin, Gender Programme Lead of LRS, reflects:

Something happened after the January (review workshop), because from December to January there was this feeling that we were trying to all grab at a thread and we were not always finding each other.? But I think the January meeting showed me that when there’s a space to talk, a safe space, a facilitated space that can make a big shift. (For example) In the review workshop, there was a common connection to the program design. We all came with our different strengths, but not in isolated pieces. I don’t think we realized how significant it was to collectively contribute in the way we did. It is a big thing that we have gotten here”.? (Data source: Programme Review Report 2019)

Some resources for encouraging learning in organisations:

TED Talk: What happens when an NGO admits failure - https://www.ted.com/talks/david_damberger_what_happens_when_an_ngo_admits_failure?language=en

IDM Learning Journey Brief: What We Learnt About Learning as a cohort of I Define Me! practitioners, and as funders and learning coordinators - https://assets.ctfassets.net/zsfivwzfgl3t/115q4HVa5QIJYLO6zwWUze/9a252c7ac00259e079ea737ffaafc171/IDM_Learning_Journey_Brief.pdf

Tips for creating a learning agenda: Based on the findings of a Landscape Analysis of Learning Agendas at USAID - https://usaidlearninglab.org/sites/default/files/resource/files/learning_agenda_tip_sheet_final.pdf